West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States

56 Cust. Ct. 466, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1934
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 11, 1966
DocketC.D. 2680
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 56 Cust. Ct. 466 (West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States, 56 Cust. Ct. 466, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1934 (cusc 1966).

Opinion

Landis, Judge:

The items of merchandise involved under the two protests consolidated for trial herein are shelf brackets which were classified by the collector of customs as manufactures of metal, not specially provided for, under paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 397), as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, and assessed with duty at the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem on the merchandise imported after June 30, 1957, and 19 per centum ad valorem on the merchandise imported after June 30, 1958. The importer claims that the merchandise is more specifically provided for under paragraph 312 of the same act (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 312), as angles or other structural shapes of iron or steel, and that it is properly -dutiable thereunder at the rates, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T.D. 52739, of 7% per centum ad valorem if advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting, or, alternatively, at 0.1^ per pound if not so advanced.

The plaintiff contends further that the instant record establishes that the imported shelf brackets were made by hammering, rolling, or casting, within the purview of paragraph 312, infra.

Paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108:

Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured:

Composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, zinc, aluminum, or other base metal (except lead), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:

Other, composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, brass * * *_20% ad val. [effective 6/30/57] 19% ad val. [effective 6/30/58]

Paragraph 312 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52739:

Beams, girders, joists, angles, channels, car-truck channels, tees, columns and posts, or parts or sections of [468]*468columns and posts, and deck and bulb beams, together with all other structural shapes of iron or steel :

Not assembled, manufactured or advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting_ 0.10 per lb.

Machined, drilled, punched, assembled, fitted, fabricated for use, or otherwise advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting-7%% ad val.

Two inquiries are in issue:

1. Are the imported shelf brackets properly dutiable as classified by the collector, as manufactures of metal, not specially provided for, under paragraph 397, as modified, supra, or as claimed by plaintiff, under the eo nomine provision for angles and other structural shapes of iron or steel in paragraph 312, as modified, supra ?
2. Are the imported shelf brackets made by hammering, rolling, or casting, as required for classification under paragraph 312, as modified, supra\

The record is comprised of the testimony of two witnesses for the plaintiff and the following plantiff’s exhibits:

Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4 are examples in different sizes, representative of the imported shelf brackets.
Exhibits 5 and 6 are examples illustrating angles. They are not illustrative of the imported merchandise.
Exhibit 7 is a report of United States Testing Co., Inc., indicating load capacity of the shelf brackets.
Exhibit 8 is an example representative of the merchandise at bar imported from 'Sweden, covered by protest 62/7369, which was consolidated for trial herein.
Exhibits 9, 10, and 11 are examples illustrative of a channel. They are not illustrative of the imported merchandise.
Exhibits 12, 13, and 14 are photographs of the machine on which the shelf brackets are manufactured, showing various stages in manufacture.
Exhibit 15 is a diagram illustrating a flat metal strip out of which brackets in process are stamped.
Exhibit 16 is a diagram illustrating how the angle is formed in the shelf bracket.
Exhibit 17 is a diagram illustrating how the angle rib is formed in the shelf bracket.
Exhibit 18 is a diagram illustrating how the holes are punched and embossed marks are made on the shelf brackets.

At the initial hearing, the first four of the above exhibits, representative of the merchandise at bar, were received in evidence. These were four gray-colored shelf brackets identical, except for color, to the imported black brackets listed on the invoices.

At the second hearing, protest 62/7369 was consolidated for trial with the initial protest herein, No. 59/22165 (B). It was stipulated [469]*469that exhibits 1 to 4, inclusive, and exhibit 8 are manufactures of iron or steel.

Hyman Ledeen, the first witness for plaintiff, was the president of a company manufacturing light and heavy equipment used in steel mills, shipyards, and airplane plants. He was a graduate engineer in mechanical engineering and studied the use of structural members and the application of forces and loads to such use. He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Fluid Power Association, and stated he had supplied equipment for use by the Navy in atomic tests, in which structural shapes including channels, angles, and beams, had been used, and that he was familiar with the process of manufacturing angles, such as plaintiff’s exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8, the exemplars representative of the merchandise at issue herein, which he stated are angle brackets; that he had not observed the method of manufacture of the imported merchandise in question here, but had seen merchandise of this type manufactured in the United States, had manufactured similar material, and knew how the articles were usually made. He explained such articles could be made by hand but usually were made by machine. This is indicated by the markings on the shelf brackets at bar.

Mr. Ledeen stated his definition of the term “structural shape” as follows:

Usually a piece of steel that has been changed from its flat shape into some other shape — angle, or channel, or tubular — that makes it possible to support more load with the same amount of weight; or shall I say, conversely, the same load with a lesser amount of weight.

He stated that, in his opinion, plaintiff’s exhibits 1, 2, and 3 are structural shapes, because they are shaped especially to support a maximum load with a minimum of material.

A report of the United States Testing Co., Inc. (plaintiff’s exhibit 7), illustrating shelf brackets identical to the merchandise at issue in all respects, including size, gauge, and shape of the metal, indicates the shelf brackets at bar, weighing from 1.4 to 11.2 ounces, have a load bearing capacity of from 166 to 358 pounds.

A number of additional exhibits, identified by the witness as illustrative of structural shapes, were received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibits 5, 6, 9,10, and 11.

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Related

Trans-Atlantic Co. v. United States
70 Cust. Ct. 243 (U.S. Customs Court, 1973)
West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States
60 Cust. Ct. 397 (U.S. Customs Court, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
56 Cust. Ct. 466, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-coast-mercantile-co-v-united-states-cusc-1966.